[Leica] Harpo, RIP

[grduprey at mchsi.com (grduprey@mchsi.com)]

Peter

Sorry to hear of the loos of a family member and friend.  They sure get 
under your skin.

Gene


-------------- Original message from Peter Klein <pklein@2alpha.net>: 
-------------- 


> The best dog I've ever known is gone, my friend and companion of 13 years. 
> 
> http://users.2alpha.com/~pklein/currentpics/HarpoLapBW5.jpg 
> http://users.2alpha.com/~pklein/currentpics/harpolean.htm 
> http://users.2alpha.com/~pklein/currentpics/paula_harpo.htm 
> http://users.2alpha.com/~pklein/E1/P4190807Harpo.jpg 
> 
> Harpo was diagnosed with diabetes three years ago. Katya and I managed to 
> keep him alive and happy for those three years despite the odds. All it 
> took was insulin shots twice a day, a special diet, the same amount of 
> exercise each day, a lot of love, and mass quantities of money to our 
> vet. It was worth every bit of effort and every penny. 
> 
> Harpo had a terrier-beagle heritage, with the most endearing combination 
> of 
> terrier intelligence and feistiness, and beagle sweetness and eagerness to 
> please. Once we got his blood sugar levels stable, he was pretty much the 
> same dog he'd always been. There were changes--no more table scraps, and 
> no 
> more hiking in the mountains with us. But he adjusted gracefully, and 
> still found joy in what he could do. His condition required that he "go 
> out" frequently, and he learned to use a doggie door at age 10, proving 
> that you *can* teach an old dog new tricks. 
> 
> Harpo was a "people dog." His greatest joy was just being with us and 
> participating in everything we did. Once, during a walk with my in-laws, 
> he refused to go home with only my mother-in-law, sitting and refusing to 
> budge until my father-in-law came out of the library. This prompted my 
> father-in-law to proclaim ever after in his thick Russian accent, "Kharpo 
> hez femily values." My mother-in-law called him an "exquisite creature." 
> 
> Harpo loved everyone, licked everyone , and greeted his extra-special 
> friends with a cross between a howl, a yodel and a Wagnerian high C. Every 
> evening when I came home from work, he would curve his body into a C-shape 
> and rub his side against me, making sure I knew I was the most important 
> person in the world. Most of my evening LUG posts were written with him 
> lying at my feet, or more likely, *on* them. 
> 
> He was fine on Sunday, Monday he stopped eating. Tuesday he could barely 
> walk. Today a test result showed that his liver was failing rapidly, 
> probably a long-term result of the diabetes. He had only a few days of 
> painful decline left if we did nothing, so we did the kind thing. And I 
> did a lot of crying tonight. 
> 
> --Peter 
> 
> 
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